WLR studios

[byeloe]

There is no availability for week 7 or week 11 on Vistana. Not really too surprising but, I found availability for those exact weeks on Priceline Express deal at 66% discount and with other available discounts it ends up being right around $100 per night. I am not sure what the studio maintenance fee is, but the cost of the 67000 SO from my SVV is higher than $100 per night.

Glad I rented out my Week 7 studio for $1400

 

[DannyTS]

The Priceline non-refundable rate for a studio is over $300 a night for week 9 so both you and your renter did well. At the same time, the Staroptions rentals are not allowed (if I understand correctly you had a VSN reservation). You are taking a big chance by doing so, Vistana may suspend your account and you can have all kind of problems with the person that is renting from you.

The Priceline express deals do not guarantee a certain hotel or resort, you can end up at any hotel in the area. As a renter you also rank low when they assign the units and I would not be surprised to hear that the Priceline renters end up at a low floor in building 13 for example.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I've never used Priceline Express Deals. When do you find out the hotel? Are there ways to cancel if you don't like the one they gave you?

 

[byeloe]

The Priceline express deals do not guarantee a certain hotel or resort, you can end up at any hotel in the area. As a renter you also rank low when they assign the units and I would not be surprised to hear that the Priceline renters end up at a low floor in building 13 for example.

sure, but if you know what you are doing you can often be 100% sure of what your are getting.
I am not renting a star option reservation, I rented my home reservation that I made 365 days in advance.

I actually booked 14 days through priceline from Feb 29 through Mar 14(weeks 9 & 10) for my wife who is going a couple of weeks earlier than me as I am working and spring break for me is week 11. I have a home reservation for that week.

 

[byeloe]

I've never used Priceline Express Deals. When do you find out the hotel? Are there ways to cancel if you don't like the one they gave you?

The reservations are non refundable and you don't get "official" confirmation of the hotel until after you pay. But as I said above, it is often very easy to identify the hotel in advance.

I booked two weeks through priceline for less than half of what the cost of rentals.

But my main point was that for specific weeks 7 and 11 that are currently not available on Vistana( for SO or Home reservations). Are easily obtainable through priceline.

This is disappointing for someone trying to rent out my WK 11 home resrvation

 

[blondietink]

I believe most timeshare resorts set aside a certain amount of rooms to rent out for cash. This is true with DVC and many people are often upset that they can get a cash reservation at a place like Old Key West resort at WDW when if they try to use their DVC points, nothing is available.

 

[DannyTS]

we have usually been successful using Hotwire and Priceline. Just few days ago we needed a hotel room in Houston for a night and we got Hyatt for $70 tax in! We normally use one of these sites when we just need a clean room for a night or two and we figure we cannot go wrong with any of the options . Once or twice we did not get the hotel we expected but the one they booked for us was similar in quality so we did not mind. They usually assign the worst rooms (ground floor by the elevator kind of room) but if I am in transit for a night I do not care.

Because of the location of WLR and the kitchen, washer drier etc there is more to lose in case they confirm another hotel/resort.

 

[byeloe]

Because of the location of WLR and the kitchen, washer drier etc there is more to losinge in case they confirm another hotel/resort.

Like I said, often it is fairly simple to identify the hotel(and was very easy to identify Lagunamar in this case) so there was no risk. I would not have bid on this reservation as I could have been assigned any 4* in the North Hotel zone willing to accept my offer. I have been using Priceline and Hotwire for 20+ years. Like you if there are multiple properties that I am ok with, then I don't mind even if I can't be sure of the exact hotel. It used to be very difficult to identify the property but in recent years they have made it very easy

 

[CalGalTraveler]

we have usually been successful using Hotwire and Priceline. Just few days ago we needed a hotel room in Houston for a night and we got Hyatt for $70 tax in! We normally use one of these sites when we just need a clean room for a night or two and we figure we cannot go wrong with any of the options . Once or twice we did not get the hotel we expected but the one they booked for us was similar in quality so we did not mind. They usually assign the worst rooms (ground floor by the elevator kind of room) but if I am in transit for a night I do not care.

Because of the location of WLR and the kitchen, washer drier etc there is more to lose in case they confirm another hotel/resort.

This. If I am spending a week in a room with the need for a lanai, I want certainty of a great view and a nice room.

If it is just a night, or a place like skiing or Disney where we are not in the room much, I really just need a place to rest my head. So playing room roulette works. We usually book on the hotel sites but will now consider priceline for short stays since we have had great luck with Priceline/Autoslash for cars.

 

[byeloe]

I would say that condos aren't the norm on the "opaque"sites. I usually only book for 1 or 2 nights. a couple of years ago I booked for 1 week on spring break in Cozumel because I was able to identify the property as Fiesta Americana before booking the express deal. Then this booking as we needed 2 weeks and the price was ridiculous for the Westin quality

 

[DannyTS]

We are going to WLR for the spring break. This may be a good option in case my MIL wants to join us. If she ends up in another hotel... well, I did my best

 

[byeloe]

We are going to WLR for the spring break. This may be a good option in case my MIL wants to join us. If she ends up in another hotel... well, I did my best

too funny, when is your spring break? It's Mar 14 for Ontario schools